Sunday, March 31, 2013

Photographers across the country can breathe a sigh of relief. The
U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York dismissed
collector Jonathan Sobel’s lawsuit against photographer William Eggleston.
The case, art law experts say, has broader implications for all artists
who incorporate old photographic negatives into new work — and the
collectors who support them.

Filed last April, the complaint alleged that Eggleston diluted
the value of Sobel’s collection by printing larger, digital versions of
some of his best-known works and then selling them for record prices at
Christie’s.